1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric lighter, and more particularly to a disk-like piezoelectric lighter with a safety lock.
2. Description of Related Art
Some piezoelectric lighters are provided with a safety lock so as to prevent the piezoelectric lighters from being ignited accidentally or by children playing. Usually, the safety lock blocks an ignition cap of the piezoelectric lighter by a button, so that the ignition cap cannot therefore be moved. When igniting, there is a need to pre-operate the button to unlock the ignition cap before sliding down the ignition cap to ignite the piezoelectric lighter.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0132201A1 discloses a safety piezoelectric lighter having a safety arrangement which includes an ignition cap having a locker cavity; a locking unit comprising a locking latch extended from an inner wall of the casing and a locker arm disposed in the locker cavity of the ignition cap; an operation button comprising a slider locker slidably mounted on the ignition cap for moving the locker arm to an unlocked position; a resilient element disposed in the receiving cavity for applying an urging pressure against the locker arm so as to normally retain the locker arm in a locking position that the locker arm is biased against the locker latch to block up the ignition cap from being slid downwardly for ignition. In the unlocked position, the locker arm is moved away from the locking latch, so that the ignition cap is capable of being slid downwardly to ignite the piezoelectric lighter.
Another piezoelectric lighter with a safety lock is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,507 to John Jiin Chung Yang. The safety lock includes an ignition cap slidably mounted on the casing in a radially movable manner, a blocking stopper supported in the ignition cavity, a locking member including a locking latch disposed the ignition cavity and extended to a position that the locking latch is blocked by the blocking stopper, so as to lock up the ignition cap from ignition. In the unlocked position of the safety lock, the locking latch is moved away from the blocking stopper so as to release the blocking up of the ignition cap with respect to the blocking stopper, so that the ignition cap is capable of being slid sidewardly and downwardly to ignite the piezoelectric lighter.
The safety locks as mentioned above can eliminate an accidental ignition of the piezoelectric lighter, thereby providing a protection against fire. However, all of the locks are designed to provide workable structures for a slide-down ignition piezoelectric lighter integrally composed of a piezoelectric unit and an elongated casing characterized in that its height is much greater than its width, so that multiple relative locking or unlocking elements or units can be arranged in the ignition cap.